20 January, 2017

Republican lawmakers in five states propose bills to criminalize peaceful protest

On Saturday,
the Women’s March on Washington will kick off what opponents of the
incoming administration hope will be a new era of demonstrations
against the Republican agenda. But in some states, non-violent
demonstrating may soon carry increased legal risks — including
punishing fines and significant prison terms — for people who
participate in protests involving civil disobedience. Over the past
few weeks, Republican legislators across the country have quietly
introduced a number of proposals to criminalize and discourage
peaceful protest.

The
proposals, which strengthen or supplement existing laws addressing
the blocking or obstructing of traffic, come in response to a string
of high-profile highway closures and other actions led by Black Lives
Matter Activists and opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Republicans reasonably expect an invigorated protest movement during
the Trump years.

In North
Dakota, for instance, Republicans introduced a bill last week that
would allow motorists to run over and kill any protester obstructing
a highway as long as a driver does so accidentally. In Minnesota, a
bill introduced by Republicans last week seeks to dramatically
stiffen fines for freeway protests and would allow prosecutors to
seek a full year of jail time for protesters blocking a highway.
Republicans in Washington state have proposed a plan to reclassify as
a felony civil disobedience protests that are deemed “economic
terrorism.” Republicans in Michigan introduced and then last month
shelved an anti-picketing law that would increase penalties against
protestors and would make it easier for businesses to sue individual
protestors for their actions. And in Iowa a Republican lawmaker has
pledged to introduce legislation to crack down on highway protests.